Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Wide Coupon Wallet Tutorial

I am a couponer. Not an extreme couponer, but I have been known to get a pretty good deal from time to time. I looked everywhere for a coupon holder wide enough to accommodate the ones they give you at the grocery store check out counter. I was very bothered by having folded coupons tucked into my coupon wallet.

Well, I couldn't find one, so I made one. It's wide enough to fit those coupons that they print at the check-out counter. AND.... it straps onto the grocery cart! It has been requested over and over and over again from family and friends. It has been purchased for friends of friends. It has been given as gifts. I'm not sure I can bring myself to make any more. So, here is the tutorial for all who missed out.

To make the coupon wallet you will need:

Two bits of fabric that coordinate (fat quarters are a great size)

Double fold bias tape (I prefer the extra-wide)

Thread (I like a bright, contrasting color)

Fusible interfacing

Two buttons

Velcro (the iron-on tabs work great)

Cardstock

Paper to make the pattern

I made my own pattern for this and it is pretty simple. Here is a photo of the dimensions. Using a ruler, draw a pattern that looks like this. The first one I made from a brown paper bag. Then I made another one using paper from my daughter's art roll.

Place the two coordinating fabrics together with the wrong-sides facing each other. The sides on the outside will be the sides that are visible on your wallet. Place the pattern on top of them and cut out both pieces of fabric at the same time. You can trace the pattern if you like. I just pinned mine onto the fabric. Use the same pattern to cut a layer of interfacing. Iron the interfacing to the wrong side of one of the pieces of fabric.

You should now have two pieces of fabric that look like this. One piece should have interfacing ironed onto the back of it. And, if you're lucky enough, you might have a cool helper like me.

Put the two pieces back together with the correct sides facing out. Fold the bottom up about four inches. While you have the iron out, go ahead and iron them like this to get a good crease at the bottom. It should look like this.

Now, you are going to put the double sided bias tape around all of the outside edges. Pin this to your wallet and sew it on using a large zig-zag stitch in a contrasting color. Start with the edge that was the actual bottom (before you folded it). You don't need to worry about the edges of your bias tape on this edge because they will be covered up. When you put the bias tape on the outside edges you will actually be sewing the sides together. At this point it is actually starting to look like a wallet.

If you made it through that, then the worst part is over (I am not a big fan of using bias tape). Add your two buttons to the outside of your tabs. These are just for aesthetics and don't actually button to anything. That's where the velcro comes in. I use two squares of the iron-on velcro to the inside of the tabs. I have never actually measured out how far down I put them. You can see from this picture about where I they go. You can iron them on with the button already sewn on. I just use a lightweight fabric, put it on top of the velcro and iron it with the velcro facing up.

The other squares of velcro will go on the back side of the wallet. Just wrap the tabs all the way around until your wallet is closed. You will be able to see where you should put the other squares without measuring. You can carry the wallet with the tabs down like this. When you go to the grocery store, you open the tabs and create loops in the back. The velcro secures the loops so you can put it on your cart.

OK, now you're really REALLY almost done. The final thing missing is the dividers. That is what actually gives the wallet some structure. Cardstock works great. My dividers measure 10.25" wide by 3.5" tall. The tabs on the dividers are 1/2" above the 3.5". So the total height is 4".

So there you have it! Your very own extra wide coupon wallet. Happy couponing!!